this ban doesn't affect me too much. i could easily live without it, since i've never had it before and it doesn't sound like something i would be inclined to try. but, should people who enjoy this product be denied it? that's the question. for myself, i hate to see any product banned, unless it is absolutely dangerous to the people consuming it (puffer fish liver, for isntance); having said that, if there is a more "humane" way to produce this foie gras, i would certainly support a change to that method.

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Thanks for your feedback. I basically agree with you, that if people wish to purchase foie gras and enjoy it, then they should have " freedom of palate " ...

If I am not mistaken, the fact is that they methods used to obtain the foie, borders on extreme cruelty ... I had read an article on the subject in French, as foie is produced in Navarra zone on French border.

What disturbs me: unmerciful methods ...

Yes, freedom to eat what one wants, however, freedom for the animal NOT to suffer while obtaining the product ... Merciful methods ...

Numerous people have been fighting for the duck´s merciful right against torture.

This month's Food Arts magazine has a very good article about the upcoming ban, and the hypocrisy of some members of the food community, like Wolfgang Puck.

The food industry in California is fighting the ban. Just seems like they started the fight too late. The fund raisers and informational campaigns should have been racheted up when the law was first proposed in 2005.

The fact is, the fois gras sold in California comes from American producers, all of whom use humane methods. And, as it turns out, many French producers are taking a close look at these techniques because they know they'll be coming under fire soon enough.

What bugs me is the support otherwise rational people give to the lunatic fringe when something involves the 1 percenters. Most of us will never eat fois gras, it's true. But that's hardly the issue. What's at stake is whether we allow an often uninformed minority to dictate what we eat.

I'm curious about how much support the animal rightests would engender if they were seeking to ban Big Macs?

i understand what you're saying, margi - as a person who does a lot of hunting and fishing, i take such a thing very seriously. when i hunt, my primary concern is a swift, clean, humane kill, and i will pass on a shot that doesn't have a good chance of ensuring a "one-shot" death for the animal that is giving its life to feed my family.

the industry of making food from domesticated animals naturally has a few cruelties built into it, but i'd like to think that these can be minimized as much as possible or at least as far as is practicable. it's better for everyone involved, including the animal(s) in question, and results in a better product. i don't know if the method they use to fatten up ducks and geese for foie gras is actually painful or tortuous, but a balance between consumer demand and humanity should be an important goal. if, as brook says, there are humane methods for producing the same-quality product, they should be adopted; it may result in higher cost, but it probably won't be an issue for the people who buy it. my understanding is that high-quality caviar has seen an eight-fold increase in price in the last few years, and people still buy plenty of it ~

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The question of whether there can be foie that is produced in a humane way does not have a definitive answer that I can see. The only way to get the enlarged, fatty liver that is foie gras is to force the ducks or geese to eat more food than they would naturally. Whether that force-feeding is necessarily inhumane is not clear to me, since I have seen accounts (admittedly by foie producers with more than a little at stake in the outcome of the argument) of free-range ducks who come running to the dinner bell when the force-feeding apparatus is set up. If that is true (and I really don't know how true it is), then I have a hard time seeing all production of foie as necessarily inhumane, and all consumption of foie as something that should be banned.

I saw an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, where he was in Quebec and went to a farm where ducks & geese were raised for foie gras. From the video, it certainly seemed to me that the birds did not mind being force fed at all. Too me it seemed that they rather enjoyed getting a full meal at every opportunity.

As I see it the term "humane" is itself misleading. It means that we as a species are transposing our values to other non human species. Values that may not apply, and values that can be very different from person to person. From my personal observations, I've seen that most animals will stuff themselves when food is plentiful, because they don't know where & when the next meal will come from.

Really not much different than our species' various harvest festivals. We had a big feast when the harvest came and put food away for the lean times.

Thanks for the video piece Daikon, it's really quite good...and quite complete. I was going to bring up the sight of a duck eating a fish...they had one in the video in the article. That's not even a large fish either.

The taste, the flavor, the texture...unbelievable. First off, to my liking...the only way to get it is with a simple sear. It gets a delicious caramelized exterior and a creamy better than butter texture of luxurious fatty goodness. Forget liver, forget duck liver taste, forget regular liver flavors or textures. This has a flavor and texture all its own. It's as if all the delicious fats and oils of the world got together and combined all the best traits of each...that's the flavor and texture of foie gras...to me.

Now, the various pate...it's just the wrong preparation, if you ask me. Same when a pork shoulder is cooked low and slow to break down the tissue and fat in a complimentary manner. A slight sear and very slightly warmed interior is the way to get this served.

I can understand if a person still chooses not to eat foie gras...that is fine and I respect that. They may not agree with the idea of producing it, understood. I can also see how eating something that luxurious and fatty is repulsive to them. This person also may not enjoy pork shoulder, pork belly, iberico jamon and a few other fatty morsels...understood. But for those of us who would care to try it. I would urge you to consider it when you see it on the menu. If it is prepared seared and as an app...it can probably be had for under $20. If this seems like an option to you...maybe forgo a couple of glasses of beer/wine that night...or perhaps order an entree that is perhaps lighter and lower expense. Now, if it's cold and pate form...I'd personally pass.

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